Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – On July 28, 1909, Pope Pius X separated the Trappist monastery of Marianhill, in South Africa, from the Order of Reformed Cistercians. The Congregation of the Marianhill Missionaries was founded. Today, this community is formed by some 400 members and present in 22 countries throughout the world. Father Damian Weber, CMM, Superior General, says: “When our founder, Abbot Franz Pfanner, founded the monastery in 1882, his objective was to promote integration of native Zulus in white society through a call to dignity in work and the spiritual example of the Trappist monks. This was how the Benedictine charism of 'ora et labora' became an instrument in freeing mankind, any race, color or religion, from poverty, ignorance, and marginalization.”
In honor of this Jubilee Year, the Congregation has planned a series of initiatives in the various local communities, in honor of Abbot Franz Pfanner and to recall the history of the Institute. The main celebration, presided by the President of the South African Bishops' Conference, will take place on May 24 in Emmaus (South Africa), where Abbot Pfanner died a century ago, two months before the decree approving the new Congregation was published.
In 1907, the Marianhill Monastery, divided into a series of “mission farms” in the Vicariate of Natal, which included schools, shops, and health clinics, had 19 affiliates and a Congregation of religious sisters, the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Actively committed to social apostolate, the Trappists of Marianhill needed a new juridical configuration and thus, on February 2, 1909, Pope Pius X approved the separation of the Trappist Order and the birth of the new religious Congregation of Pontifical Right. The Holy Father's decision was to be made public on July 28, 1909 (anniversary of the priestly ordination and first journey to Africa of Abbot Pfanner), however the elderly missionary died on May 24 of the same year.
The social works and notable progress in the educational field accompanied the new Congregation in its first steps. Father Weber commented that today, “an important development has taken place thanks to the number of African members within our community, now one third of the entire part. In 1981, the first African Bishop was consecrated for the Diocese of Marianhill, Bishop Paul Themba Mngoma, and our Africa brother Bishop Paul Khumalo was recently made Archbishop of Pretoria. Beginning about ten years ago in Zambia, our African Provinces have begun sending missionaries to the rest of the world.”
Agenzia Fides will publish a Dossier on the history and missionary commitment of the Congregation on May 16, featuring an interview with the Superior General. (AM) (Agenzia Fides 14/5/2009)
